Ohio 4th grader dies after contracting flu as national cases spike

WASHINGTON, D.C., USA — A town in Ohio is mourning a young girl who passed away after being diagnosed with the flu and strep throat.

Mason City School posted on Facebook that one of their students, Sable Gibson, passed away Wednesday night after going into cardiac arrest following her diagnosis.

“Please join us in keeping the Gibson family in our daily thoughts and prayers as they navigate these very difficult days,” school system officials wrote online. “We also lift up all of Sable’s classmates, teachers and support staff.”

The Centers for Disease Control reports almost every state and territory in the country is seeing “widespread” flu activity.

In a release, the CDC said the week ending on Feb. 9 indicated a season high of influenza cases, though it is still below what we saw last year.

The proportion of deaths attributed to pneumonia and influenza was 7 percent during the week ending Feb. 2, the most recent information available from the CDC. That percentage is just below the epidemic threshold of 7.3 percent for week five in the National Center for Health Statistics Mortality Surveillance System.

For comparison, last flu season that level was at or above epidemic threshold for 16 weeks.

The CDC’s most recent report shows there have been 34 pediatric deaths in the U.S. due to influenza. Those numbers do not include Sable Gibson of Ohio.

"It's moments like these that we come together as a community to walk alongside one another and care for each other," the school system wrote.